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A long-time leader in the museum industry, Joel A. Bartsch serves as president and CEO of the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). Prior to this, he held varying positions at the Texas Memorial Museum, California State Mining & Mineral Museum, and Lyman House Memorial Museum. In addition to leading HMNS, Joel Bartsch maintains a professional interest in theology and world religions.
While closely related, theology and religion are still two distinct academic disciplines.
The study of theology focuses on a deity. Due to this focus, theology is more faith-based than religious studies, and focuses on what people believe about a certain deity. It attempts to analyze the truth of this belief, despite the fact that it primarily focuses on a single religious view rather than looking at all world religions. Due to this singular focus, theology is also studied in many religious schools. For instance, a person training to be a pastor or priest will often need training at a theological seminary.
Conversely, religion is the application of the belief examined by theology. Generally, religious studies are more analytical and will look into different religions from around the world instead of focusing on a single system. It examines why people behave in a certain way based on their beliefs, and promotes a cross-cultural view of religion. Since the field is broad, it’s often part of sociological, philosophical, anthropological, and psychological studies.
